Research In Motion (RIM) has been targeting the entry-level market for some time now but it wasn’t very evident until they released another qwerty smartphone, the Blackberry Curve 8520.
Like most other Blackberry phones, the Curve 8520 gets a stylish glossy finish and a sleeker look. It’s a bit smaller than the previous full qwerty Blackberry handsets but is still comfortable to use.
RIM ditched the usual trackball and replaced it with a touch sensitive optical track pad instead. The trackpad is really nice and comfortable to use but sometimes I find it cumbersome especially when scrolling over really long web pages or list of messages.
The individual keys on the qwerty keypad are a bit small but since they’re raised higher, typing becomes easier over time.
The phone sports a 2.64 inch display with a resolution of 320×240 pixels. The screen has a nice bright and crisp display despite the relatively small size. There is a 2-megapixel camera (1600×1200 pixel resolution) that’s optimized for taking videos.
As for connectivity, the Curve 8520 has WiFi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP. It only has EDGE instead of 3G so it’s a little slower connecting to wireless data networks. However, RIM’s proprietary data compression technology enables faster data transfer over GPRS or EDGE. Despite that compression technology they always brag about (and I’ve noticed it really works), there are lots of instances you’d wish you had 3G (audio/video streaming, tethering to a laptop, etc.) with it.
Internal storage is only 256MB but that can be extended up to 32GB using an external microSD card (card sold separately). The handset runs on Blackberry OS powered by 512MHz processor and that’s already a capable device for its category. The Li-Ion battery is rate at 1150mAh and battery life is pretty decent at over 2 days of regular use.
RIM is also shaping the Curve 8520 as an entry-level multimedia phone by adding dedicated music keys and a 3.5mm audio jack so you can use just about any headphones with it. Playback is great with nice sound quality when playing music or videos.
The Blackberry Curve 8520 only comes in glossy black while pricing is dependent on partner telcos offering Blackberry plans. We have yet to see which BB plans they’ll offer it with.
Side note: if you’re interested on getting a Blackberry for a phone, having a postpaid Blackberry Plan to go with it maximizes its potential esp. with push messaging. Otherwise, the difference between other similar qwerty phones (like the Samsung Blackjack, Nokia E63) isn’t that much.
Master Yuga,
What do you prefer most? the trackball or the track pad? My Bold’s trackad is killing me! It doesn’t work sometimes.
I prefer having the trackpad. I find it much easier to navigate than using the trackball. Thanks for the info.
hi abe/yuga,
how was browsing over the net via wifi on this unit?
i hope you can also make a review about it.
how much does Globe charge for the push email service?
Thanks! =)
Trackballs and trackpads both suck. I’ll take a dpad and/or touchscreen any day.
i still prefer the mouse(or senseware pad) of the Samsung i780. it’s more responsive.
i’d like to get this phone. someone please post the postpaid plans here (or links) once they become available. thanks!
I could live without the 3G for now, as I’m very much interested in getting this phone.
Hi all, I checked the Philippine Star on Saturday, it says PhP14,000-abouts yung postpaid plan for Globe. That’s not bad. ^_^ What do you think?
Globe offers a PREPAID kit @ 14,995. and you get this for FREE at the 2,500 Postpaid plans
I asked Globe Trinoma but they don’t have the offer yet for Blackberry Curve 8520.
how much is this? which stores offer this kind of smartphone??
@ kaiskidoodle – does BIS work on prepaid now???
i was able to watch/read other reviews about 8520 and they say that it’s fixed focus … though when i tried looking at BB’s site, it says it has 5x digital zoom … so which is it?
@wartycauldron: i tried to inquire yesterday at globe trinoma … they already have a price list for the 8520 … prepaid kit is at 14,995 … while their lowest plan (plan 500) offers the 8520 at 12,000.
Hi I got my BB Curve 8520 two days ago and its really an amazing phone! The trackpad is very responsive and the multimedia functions are excellent except for the camera which is only 2mp. The battery life is also good. Yun nga lang I cant use all the functions since I got mine na prepaid at 14,995.
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if you are always in a WiFi zone is it ok not to subscribe to Globe’s Blackberry Plan?
If Im always in a Wifi zone would I still need to subscribe to Globe’s blackberry plan?
guys, if you’re on prepaid line, you cant use the features of postpaid line?
mga sir kakabili ko lang din ng BB 8520 curve ko ang mahala nmn pla jan sa pinas d2 sa saudi lumalabas lang n 12000 pesos brand new na hehehe astig tong phone n to!!!!!
i recently got myself this phone from globe market2. limited stocks available daw. tama ba? its the cheapest being offered locally? sa ebay kasi nasa 17k++ pa. sa globe 15k lang.
and about the prepaid/postpaid concern, paano po yun? im using prepaid on my bb.
i’ve been trying to access the net using our wifi at home. paano ba mag connect automatically? may bnibigay pang pin yung bb sa akin eh.
sorry im a bb newbie here.
hi maye,
I have the same problem. were you able to solve yours? help!
@ Aveleen: Yes I was able to connect through our wifi. How? I have no idea. I was suddenly online in my twitter app.
Speaking of apps, I’m kinda pissed that I can’t download apps online using IE. Laging error.
Or is it because i’m using a prepaid sim? o_0 hayy sana they didn’t offered this phone if pang post paid lang siya.
Looks like minimum wage earners don’t have the right to use a BB on globe sim.
http://www.iloverainb0ws.com/?p=708
for the pin, u dont have to use that. If your router has a passkey, use that instead.
For BB Globe prepaid users, we aren’t given permission to use Blackberry applications from the BB Application World because RIM will require you to have a data plan. Here in the Philippines, BB data plans are charged at (i think) P700.00, aside from the subscription plan that you will be paying to Globe. That’s the catch kaya cheaper sya sa Globe.
BUUUT! don’t worry because there are applications created by various sites which allow people to use Blackberry applications which do not require a BB data plan. In using Twitter, for example, instead of using twitterberry or ubertwitter, you can try downloading twixtreme.
There are a lot more applications made available to us non-plan users. For push email, i think you can download mini opera for that. i dont know how it exactly works, but i read somewhere that you can use this application for push emails and etc.